Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness organizations in Washington County address the physical, mental, behavioral, and emotional needs of residents. Health care facilities, wellness programs, education and recreation all contribute to the overall health and fitness of county residents.

Impact

With programs and services for children through seniors, these organizations encourage healthy and active lifestyles, provide preventative and specialized health care, and encourage and support proactive mental and emotional wellbeing.

Strengths

• Access to Care
• A Comprehensive Health System and Wellness Center
• Flexibility
• Diverse Programming
• Patient Care
• Caring Employees
• Strong Organizations
• Support from Local Businesses
• Emergency Care
• Proactive Evaluation and Monitoring
• An Active Younger Generation
• Inclusiveness
• Efficiencies
• Safety
• Social Media for Outreach
• Education
• Partnerships
• Recreational Opportunities

Challenges

Despite strong outreach efforts, there remains a general lack of awareness of programs and a perceived lack of accessibility. Communication, education, and connectivity, especially with more rural communities, need to improve. Expenses continue to rise, but funding does not keep up with the increased costs. Technological advances move faster than training and implementation. Transportation issues create challenges for patients and employees. Nutrition education is a county-wide need. Members of the focus group believe that cross-generational programming and getting into school districts would encourage families to learn healthy habits together. Social media contributes to mental health issues. Workforce and staffing continue to lag coming out of the pandemic. Immigration brings language and cultural barriers. The move to cashless systems impacts residents without credit or bank cards. Issues related to the pandemic will be felt for years to come.